


Overcompensation

by Dreamtiel



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: GueiMei Thot HQ Secret Santa 2019, M/M, Slice of Life, brief mentions of Sanrio characters, lots of shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22294723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamtiel/pseuds/Dreamtiel
Summary: Gueira wants to be as good of a boyfriend for Meis as Galo is for Lio. Galo helps. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 9
Kudos: 112





	Overcompensation

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Secret Santa gift for Cap! Her request said "can be anything fluffy or domestic! (or maybe angsty??) either of gueimei or galolio i dont mind <3 i love them all" so I wanted to try and incorporate a little of each. I hope I did you justice, Cap!

Gueira had never been the best when it came to love. That much was obvious given his track record of having gone on exactly 0 dates, confessed or gotten confessed to exactly 0 times, and had exactly 0 kisses.

Well, before Meis, anyway. 

There were times when Gueira still felt he was living in some kind of daze, like he could barely remember the moment they confessed to each other and became an item. Sometimes it felt like there was that step missing, and he was reminded of how…  _ weird _ it was that he was dating his best friend.

It wasn’t weird in a bad way, though! Quite the opposite, actually. It was just jarring sometimes to think about. Five years since they met in high school, maybe they did share some intimate moments that Gueira couldn’t see himself having with anyone else. But after that confession, after Meis finally spilled years of repressed feelings for him, it felt like Gueira had fallen into some whole other world where they’d always been dating. All of a sudden, it felt like Meis had become a different person. More affectionate. More open. More touchy-feely.

Gueira loved it. But at the same time it felt so… weird.

Things were moving so fast, and Gueira had always been the slowest on the field. 

Though he didn’t realize  _ how  _ slow he was until he noticed how much better Galo was at being a boyfriend than him. 

While Gueira and Meis’ relationship had started out slow and easy, Galo and Lio’s relationship had so much more of a fanfare. Gueira could still recall the day Galo and Lio rather suddenly announced they were together with the simple gesture of a kiss in the middle of Burning Rescue’s loading bay area. The sheer abruptness and lack of warning in the sweet display of affection had sent a wave of silent shock throughout the room. No one had said anything at first, but later on the two girls of Burning Rescue, plus Gueira and Meis, had started bombarding the happy couple on their new relationship. 

Gueira was thankful nobody really prodded on his and Meis’ relationship when they got together, but he credited that to the fact that most of Burning Rescue had apparently assumed they were dating anyway. 

And yet Gueira never really knew  _ why  _ they assumed that, with how absurdly hesitant he was to actually  _ do  _ good boyfriend things. Time and time again he’d be reminded of how lacking and how little he was as a partner whenever he saw his former Boss and his new hunk of a boyfriend together. 

It was almost sickening, really. There were times where Galo would exaggeratedly hold open a door or pull a chair out for Lio, or tenderly feed him a spoonful of some of his own lunch. There were even times when the crew had been out all day when Galo would offer Lio a ride on his back or in his arms if he were tired, professionalism be damned. 

Meanwhile, Gueira found himself mentally slapping his forehead, accompanied constantly by the thought of “why didn’t I think of that?”

He never really thought of himself as the romantic type at all. And even though Meis didn’t really seem to mind how openly affectionate Galo was towards Lio, Gueira couldn’t help but think he wasn’t imagining the lightly envious glint in Meis’ eye whenever they caught sight of the two lovebirds doing whatever mushy thing they usually did.

So Gueira hit a resolve. He wanted to be a  _ better  _ boyfriend that Galo Thymos could possibly be. But that meant getting help from the best. 

And that’s how he ended up like this, relaying a plan to Galo and Lio in their apartment living room as if they were army generals plotting an attack to take place at dawn.

“... So in conclusion,” Gueira was finishing up, “Boss, I need you to distract Meis long enough for Galo and me to set up dinner at our place!”

“You could’ve just relayed the plan like that,” Lio snarked with a well-meaning smile. “But, got it. We’re happy to help as always.”

“Yeah! Count us both in!” Galo joined in with a grin.

Gueira smiled, nodding in affirmation. “Thanks, you two! Seriously, I’m not gonna be able to pull this off without either of you!”

“Just don’t burn down your apartment,” Lio said, leaning over onto Galo’s shoulder only for the taller male to suddenly stand, causing him to fall over.

“Him?! Burn the apartment?! Not while I’m around!”

“Careful, hotshot,  _ you  _ might burn down our living room with that fiery attitude.” Gueira watched as Galo turned his head only to immediately prop Lio back up, attacking him with a quick jab to the side to make Lio choke a laugh. “Don’t do that! I’m ticklish.”

Weeks ago, the sight would’ve sickened him (along with everyone else), but now he was feeling another pang of… an odd mix of guilt and envy. Again, he never considered himself the romantic type at all, but part of him wished he could be like that towards Meis too. If only Meis’ mood wasn’t so hard to read and if only Gueira wasn’t a total dumbass when it came to feelings and acting on them in the first place.

The guilt and envy quickly faded, though, upon hearing Lio laugh almost childishly at Galo tickling his neck in kisses.

“Ugh…” Gueira scoffed to himself. “You two are so cheesy you put all het movies to shame.”

\---

The designated dinner night soon rolled around, as did the not-at-all-complicated plan laid out by Gueira just days prior. Everything had started smoothly enough, with Meis agreeing to go out shopping with Lio for a few hours none the wiser while Galo made his way over to Gueira and Meis’ apartment under the guise of playing video games.

“All right!” Galo shouted once they were sure Lio and Meis were far enough. “Cooking time!”

“Something like a roast is pretty romantic, right?” Gueira muttered as he flipped through the cookbook. “Then again, after what we went through, anything would be as long as it’s edible…”

“It’s classic too!” Galo punched the air in excitement. “All right, you cut the potatoes and carrots, I’ll get the meat.” Thankfully, he had thought ahead on the cooking time and prepped the meat hours earlier at his own place.

“R-Right…” Gueira looked at the cutting board with the aforementioned veggies in front of him. Slowly, he turned his gaze to the knife left out for him to use, and picked it up. 

Galo’s humming died down as he turned around to fetch the salt and pepper. “Hm? Yo, Gueira, you all right?”

“... Could you, uh, show me how to cut these?”

“You don’t know how to?!”

“I mean I cut them, but I dunno the right method!!” 

“Right method?! They’re just potatoes and carrots!”

“Yeah, but they gotta be perfect, right?! This is romance we’re talkin’ about!!”

\---

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city…

\---

Meis huffed a breath of visible steam, watching it fade into the darkening winter sky as he walked alongside Lio down the outdoor shopping outlet. Half an hour into their outing, and they hadn’t bought anything yet. Probably because of their usual style.

“If you wanna go into any particular store, just lemme know, Boss,” Meis said, glancing over at the younger man and smiling softly.

Lio smiled in turn, as he was warming his hands in his breath. “I will. You too.”

They walked a few more steps in silence, watching people pass by uneventfully, paying them no attention. It felt surreal, to be surrounded by so many people who didn’t mind them anymore, because there was no more threat to them (well, besides the pepper spray Meis held in his coat pocket. Just in case.)

“Y’know,” Meis started again. “It’s nice, just being out here, Boss.”

“I agree. It’s chilly, but…”

“I mean the fact that we can just live our best lives now.” He pushed a hair strand back behind his ear. “With no worrying about people calling us monsters… No more worrying about getting into trouble…”

“Mm-hm.” Lio suddenly turned his attention to a nearby, almost familiar shop with an array of plush dolls and a pastel aesthetic. He quietly gasped. “Meis, can we go there?”

Meis turned his gaze to find what Lio was looking at, and grimaced internally. “A Sanrio shop?” Normally, he wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those shops with his reputation… But then again, no one he knew now would care, and there was no way he could refuse with how fervently Lio nodded in response. “Yeah, let’s go in.”

_ Yeah, let’s let Boss have this… Just getting to spend time with him is nice. I wonder how Galo and Gueira are doing. _

\---

Meanwhile, back at the apartment…

\---

It was amazing how much everything could fall apart within the span of half an hour.

Gueira whined as Galo continued to wash the fresh cut on his finger under a continuous stream of cold water. “Shit!” he hissed. “Fuck, that hurts!”

“I told you, you have to hold onto the potato more firmly!” Galo scolded. “Damn, and it’s pretty big too…”

“It won’t stop-- oh god it won’t stop bleeding.” He hissed again, trying to keep his eyes off his hand. “U-Uh, dude, I don’t wanna alarm ya, but I’m feeling dizzy”

“That’s normal. Lotsa people can’t handle seeing their own blood.”

“You calling me a wimp?!”

“I didn’t say that in any way, shape, or form!”

“You’re implying it…” Gueira huffed as Galo dried the cut and soon began to wrap the wound. “... It’s throbbing.”

“It’s supposed to feel like that.”

“It really hurts.”

“It’s gonna feel like that for a while.”

“Right… so, what should I do next?”

“Whaddaya mean, ‘what should I do next?’” Galo stood and placed his hands on his hips. “You gotta rest! You can’t cook with an injury like that!”

“Yes I can!” Gueira stood up forcefully. “It’s  _ my  _ dinner! I’m not gonna let you do it all yourself!”

“It’s not as though there’s much left to do anyhow!” Galo turned to check the roast in the oven. 

“All I got to do was chop potatoes and carrots…!”

“And that’s enough! You did all you could, so--” Galo opened the oven, only to be greeted by an alarming amount of black smoke. He broke out into a cough. “What the--?!”

“IT’S BURNING?!”

“HOW IS IT BURNING?!”

“I UPPED THE TEMPERATURE JUST A LITTLE TO SPEED IT UP!!”

“WHY AND  _ WHEN  _ DID YOU EVEN MANAGE TO DO THAT?!”

“I WAS WORRIED THEY’D GET HOME BEFORE WE FINISHED!! CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!”

“WE  _ ARE  _ THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!”

\---

Meanwhile, back at Sanrio…

\---

Meis kept his head down low, trying to not look as though he were actively looking through the shelves of embarrassingly cute plush dolls and pastel merch. He would have fared better if he had just sucked it up and asked Lio if he could just stay outside while he looked for a Hot Topic or something, but there was no way he could bear to say no to Lio.

Especially with the way Lio was currently fawning over the plush dolls. At least, as much as he could while maintaining a straight-laced face.

Gingerly, Meis floated over to a display of pencils, pretending to be mildly curious. If not for his image, he’d be more appreciative of the soft, careful designs of each pencil. But no, being punk or goth or whatever he was considered by the outside world to be was the path he chose, and that obviously meant he could never take a look at the dark (or was it bright?) side--

“Meis, look at this bunny,” Lio softly called from the next aisle over. Bracing himself, Meis sauntered over to find Lio fawning over a little bunny doll with long ears. 

“... Very cute, Boss.”

“... Sorry, I won’t take much longer in here,” Lio said, lowering the doll. “I know this isn’t really your kind of place.”

“No, Boss, it’s fine.” He offered a warm smile. “It really is cute. So it suits you.”

“Oh shush.” Lio looked down at the bunny (a “Cinnamoroll”, as the label named it) and smiled. “I wanna get this for Galo, actually.”

“He’d like that kinda thing?” Meis chuckled, looking at the other plush dolls. 

“It doesn’t look like it, does it?” Lio smiled fondly. “But he’s honestly such a huge softie for these kinds of things.”

“I never woulda thought?”

“Really? If he’d gone with us, you’d probably see him fawning over these things more than I am right now.” Lio squeezed the doll. “He’s great like that. He’s not afraid to show how he feels.”

“Not afraid to show how he feels, huh…” Meis brushed a hair out of his face. He couldn’t help but think of Gueira in turn. Lately, he’d been more explicitly attentive towards Meis. It was subtle at first, but over time it became more obvious to Meis, how much Gueira was trying to get him to open up. If only Meis weren’t so shy, even after his feelings were finally laid out. “... You think Gueira would like it too?” he asked Lio.

“Who knows. You probably would know him better than I would.”

Meis plucked a black bird doll off the rack. “... Yeah. He’s pretty good at keeping an open mind…”

“Even I know he’s a big enough softie to refuse Sanrio, though,” Lio smiled a little more brightly. “I’m sure he’ll accept you liking cute things.”

“I-I’m not the one who wanted to come in here, though…”

\---

Meanwhile, back the apartment…

\---

_ Fwssshhhhhhh… _

“Aaaand that should be the last of it,” Galo sighed in exhaustion, sliding down to the ground after getting rid of the last of the smoke. 

“Tch… it’s all ruined…” Gueira grumbled as he and Galo stared down at the blackened roast sitting in its pot with all the other burnt veggies. “This is a fucking mess. Why did I bother with this, anyway?” He leaned against the kitchen counter and slid down to the floor similarly, sighing loudly to himself.

“... Sorry it turned out like this,” Galo said. “We could try again sometime.”

Gueira groaned again and leaned his head back. “What’s the point? If I can’t even do it myself, what’s the use?”

“Why’re you so worked up about getting this dinner right, anyway?” Galo asked. 

“Why do you think? Oh, wouldn’t you like to know, Mr. ‘World’s Greatest Boyfriend?’” He scoffed and looked away, regretting the outburst.

“... I think I’m starting to get what this is about.”

“Of course,” Gueira scoffed again. “... You always do things so perfectly when it comes to treating Boss right. And it made me think, ‘wow, I’m a shitty boyfriend’ when I think about what I do for Meis. Or, well, more like what I  _ don’t  _ do…”

“What don’t you do?”

“Everything you do for Lio! Being all gentleman-y and romantic and shit! You’re always smoochin’ like you’re married already, you’re always going out on these nice dates and getting each other gifts… And I haven’t been doing enough of  _ that  _ for Meis.”

“Gueira. Dude. There’s not really a right way to dating.” Galo scooted over to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Besides, it sure sounds like Meis loves how you do things just the way you do. If you were actually a shitty boyfriend, you wouldn’t be trying this hard for him.”

“...” The redhead bought his knees to his chin, looking down. “I still… wanna do something nice for him…”

Galo stood up suddenly, fiery spirit back in his eyes. “Then let’s do something with the time we got left! Come on, we can still--” The door to the apartment suddenly unlocked and opened, with Lio and Meis returning and stepping in to find a mess in the kitchen and the other two males slumped down on the floor. “Oh, whoops, scratch that, they’re already back.”

\---

“You two are unbelievable…” Lio sighed, though not in an angry way, more laced with affection. He and Galo worked to discard the ruined food in the trash while Gueira and Meis cleaned up the rest of the mess on the counters.

“You really went through all that trouble to surprise me?” Meis asked, nudging Gueira fondly in the shoulder as he wiped down the counter.

Gueira smiled sheepishly in return. “I-I mean… not exactly the kinda surprise I was hoping to give ya…”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Lio offered as he passed by.

“Yeah, exactly,” Meis nodded. “You didn’t have to jump through hoops like that, though… You know I would’ve been impressed with just a simple night out.”

“R… Right…” Gueira’s smile faded slightly.

Behind them, Galo and Lio had suddenly broke out into a giggle fit. Gueira and Meis turned around to find the two whispering about something to each other, with Lio playfully shoving Galo back.

“What’re you two talking about?” Meis asked, bemused.

“Nothing, nothing,” Lio said. He held up the garbage bag they were using to clean up. “Hey, Galo and I’re gonna go throw this out.”

“Be safe, Boss,” Meis waved as they left. 

With just him and Gueira in the apartment, there was finally room for them to breathe. Once again, there was a brief stint of silence, the kind Gueira didn’t like all that much ever since they got together. Still, he kept his gaze down at the sink as he tried to be careful in washing the leftover dishes.

“Hey, here,” Meis opened a drawer and took out a glove, handing it over. “Don’t wanna get that bandage wet.”

“Thanks.”

“Was it bad?”

“Hoo, yeah.” He managed a small laugh. “Hurts like a bitch still. Probably gonna keep hurtin’ for a while.”

“Want me to kiss it better?~”

It was, evidently, a bold line for Meis, one that was enough to fluster Gueira into not even answering, hoping his reddening face would be enough to send a message. He regretted it though, especially with the silence that followed. 

“... I-I’d uh, like that,” he finally mumbled, just loud enough for Meis to hear.

“Huh? Like what?”

“Y-Y’know!” he stammered. “What you just said, just now! K-Kissing it better?”

“Oh, if you insist,” Meis softly laughed. “When you’re done, of course.”

Gueira could feel the heat rising to his face even more. Something about tonight had just been piling frustration over frustration for him. Dinner was ruined, his finger still stung like a bitch, and even after all that it still felt like he couldn’t even manage talking to Meis. It was like he could go Burnish at any time again with how tight his breath suddenly felt. Frustrated and finally pushed over the limit, he groaned out loud and threw his head back. “Gaah, I can’t take it anymore!!”

Meis nearly jumped back, startled. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I just--!” He shut the water off, yanking the glove off and discarding it. “I just wanna say--! I’m sorry I’m still weird about this, all right?!”

“Weird about? Why are you sorry?”

“You know! All the dating stuff! I’m not good at it, I’m not romantic, I have no idea  _ how  _ to be. But…” He avoided Meis’ gaze. “It’s not like I wanna break up or anything…”

“You’re breaking up with me?”

“I JUST SAID--!!”

“Sorry, the way you said it--”

“I know! I know! And I’m really shit at communicating too!” He couldn’t help but smack his own forehead with the palm of his hand for yelling. “... Meis, if you’re not happy with me as a boyfriend, you really ought to just cut your losses, is what I’m saying.”

“... Is that what you want?” His voice was steady and even, hard to read emotionally as usual. At any moment Gueira expected him to burst into anger or quietly leave the conversation, even though the voice at the back of his mind tried to convince him that Meis wouldn’t do such a thing.

“I mean, no… of course not. But you deserve someone who can actually do things right… Someone who can be a good boyfriend to you and like, take you on nice dates to the arcade or movies or something. I’m not great at planning these things. You can see that.”

“...”

“I just… feel bad, okay?”

“What made you think you had to do things like that?” 

“...” Gueira didn’t answer at first, hesitant.

“Come on, Gueira.” Gently, Meis took him by the hand and walked him over to sit down on their couch. “You can talk to me.”

“It’s really dumb.”

“You should still tell me. Better than letting it fester in you.”

“Mmm…”

“It’s not gonna get better if you don’t talk about it.”

“Mmmmmm…”

“I mean… doesn’t have to be now. But I’d really like it if--”

“It’s because Galo sets the bar too high!” Gueira finally said, voice raising again. “There! I said it! I told you, it was dumb! But I mean-- look at how he spoils Lio! I just-- It should be  _ easy  _ to do the same for you, I know! But it’s just--” He paused, swallowing a breath. “... I’m not used to it. You’re my first boyfriend, and I know your standards are high-- are you laughing at me?!”

Indeed, Meis had a crooked smile on his face, evidently trying to hold back well-meaning laughter. “No, not  _ at  _ you. Just the idea of you trying to act like  _ Galo  _ of all people.”

“I mean, when you put it like that…”

“Gueira…” His hand hovered over his, gently interlocking their fingers. “You don’t have to push yourself to go to those lengths for me. I thought that was pretty clear. You just go at your own pace, all right? I don’t need a boyfriend who goes out of his way all the time to try and impress me. I just need you to be you.”

And that was another thing Gueira often took for granted and didn’t come to appreciate until moments like these. He was at a loss for words, unable to really think of a comeback to that despite the ones that swept over his mind.  _ But I WANT to do this for you.  _ Instead, he leaned over on Meis’ shoulder, half-burying his face in it.

“... I still wanna go on more dates,” he finally admitted, face half-smushed. “It’s really dumb.”

“It’s not.” Gueira had to hold a purr back upon feeling Meis’ lips gently kiss the top of his forehead. “Let’s go on some dates another night. Or we can go eat somewhere tonight. Night’s still young.”

“Hm…”

“Or we can get takeout.”

“Takeout ain’t romantic, though.”

Meis chuckled. “You know, you say you aren’t a romantic, but you sure do talk about it a lot.”

“I just want what’s best for you, all right?”

“Then just keep doing what you’re doing. I appreciate you trying so hard… That already means the world to me.” He parted after a while and picked up the shopping bag he left resting on the living room table. “I figured I needed to be more open with you too. So… I got you something.”

Without another word, he handed the bag over to Gueira, who curiously peeked into it before his eyes widened. “Oh shit, is this a Badtz-Maru?”

“Y-Yeah. The eyes kinda made me think of you, so--”

“Dammit, Meis!!” Gueira’s face reddened again. “You can’t just do that!! You can’t just do cute shit like that! I gotta repay you back!”

“You don’t have to--”

“I am  _ going  _ to and you’re not gonna stop me!”

“So you like it?”

“I  _ love  _ it almost as much as I love you, so--”

“Y-You love me?”

Gueira spluttered, holding the doll up to his face. “I-I mean… Fuck! Okay! Maybe that’s too fast--”

Meis’ laughter filled the room, enough to reach Galo and Lio outside the apartment door. With a satisfied sigh, the two silently decided to leave them be.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, but this is a good place to start.


End file.
